Author events this week in L.A.: Sharks, Jets and Batman signings ... oh my!

 

As the Dark Knight descends on movie theaters this week, a new tell-all book on Christian Bale arrives. Tickets sold out at all the Batman screenings? Head on over to Barnes and Noble in Manhattan Beach on Friday, when Bale's former publicist and assistant, Harrison Cheung, will be signing copies of "Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman." Cheung, who touts himself as the real life Alfred, lived and worked with Christian and his father for 10 years: He shares firsthand accounts of family dysfunction and the actor's extreme dedication to his craft.

Looking for something a little more abstract? Check out wordsmith Laurel Airica in action as she dissectes the English language for wordplay and inspiration in our daily lives with her live presentation "WordMagic Global: Using the Word for the World's ReCreation," from 7-10 p.m. at The Great Spirits Ranch in Malibu.

As always, check with bookstores for event/venue changes or cancellations.

7/17, 8 p.m.: Chuck Palahniuk presents "Invisible Monsters Remix" a radically refashioned "director's cut" of the author's 1999 novel. Skirball Cultural Center

7/18, 7 p.m.: Jess Walter discusses and signs "Beautiful Ruins: A Novel". Book Soup

7/18, 7 p.m.: Carlos Ruiz Zafon presents and signs "The Prisoner of Heaven: A Novel". All Saints Church, Pasadena

7/20, 11 a.m.: Harrison Cheung will sign copies of his book "Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman". Barnes & Noble Manhattan Beach

7/20, 7:30 p.m.: The traveling Slake show continues with a group reading from "Slake LA Issue 4: Dirt."  Vroman's

7/20, 7:30 p.m.: Paula Priamos and Dana Johnson read and sign their books "The Shyster's Daughter," and "Elsewhere, California." Skylight Books

7/21, 7-10 p.m.: Santa Monica-based linguist and author Laurel Airica presents "WordMagic Global: Using the Word for the World's ReCreation." Great Spirits Ranch Malibu

7/ 22, 1 p.m.: Cast members from "West Side Story" will be on hand to share behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the classic film detailed in their book, "Our Story: Jets and Sharks Then and Now." Barnes & Noble Calabasas

-- Liesl Bradner

Photo: Christian Bale as Batman in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures "The Dark Knight Rises." Credit: Ron Phillips / Warner Bros.

Get ready for the election with 'Presidential Campaign Posters'

Before the era of the 24-hour news cycle and weekly televised debates, the predominant and most creative outlet for presidential candidates to communicate their vision was the campaign poster.

With "Presidential Campaign Posters" (Quirk Books, $40), the Library of Congress takes a look back at two centuries of memorable election art.

The book begins with the 1828 Andrew Jackson-John Quincy Adams race, spanning through 2008's Barack Obama-John McCain battle -- including Shepard Fairey's memorable Obama "Hope" poster -- and covering every campaign in between.

"We began in 1828 because it was the first election you didn't have to own property to vote," said W. Ralph Eubanks, publishing director at the Library of Congress. "We felt that was the beginning of modern presidential campaigns."

While the names and faces may have changed and artistic styles evolved, the nature of American politicking, issues and mudslinging have remained constant throughout our country's history. Often the attacks were personal and vicious. Jackson's opponents painted him as a murdering military general in a poster filled with caskets and accounts of his bloody deeds, while Adams represented establishment and ties to the founding fathers.

"The most common slogan has been a variation of 'Bring America Back' or 'Push It Forward,' " Eubanks said. He noted that a recurring theme is the candidate as the common man: James Garfield as a farmer, Ulysses S. Grant as a tanner, and Robert Kennedy's Alfred E. Neuman look-alike psychedelic poster from 1968.

"It's so visually appealing with strong graphics. It makes you like the candidate and feel some connection," Eubanks said in describing what makes a successful poster.

GALLERY: Presidential campaign posters

Political cartoons and parody posters can be a way to connect to popular culture. Among the top candidates in that genre: Ronald Reagan reimagined as a Rambo clone named "Ronbo," Gerald Ford dressed up as Fonzie with the tag line "Fordzie: Happy Days are Here Again" and Jimmy Carter as Jesus Christ ("J.C. Can Save America").

In addition to the 100 pullout posters, there are related materials that give readers what Eubanks calls "a sense of the temper of the times." For Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential run, a copy of his gold button and a "Grand Wizards for Goldwater" photo are featured along with the poster.

Mixed in with the comedic lampooning is an homage to masterpieces such as Delacroix's 1830 painting "Liberty Leading the People," reimagined for the 1984 campaign of Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. Posters designed by noted artists include Ben Shahn's 1968 Eugene McCarthy peace poster and James Montgomery Flagg's Uncle Sam in "I Want You F.D.R" in 1944.

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-- Liesl Bradner

Photo: Abraham Lincoln's full first name wouldn't fit on a flag-themed poster for his 1860 campaign with running mate Hannibal Hamlin, among the treasures in "Presidential Campaign Posters." Credit: Quirk Books / Library of Congress

 

On Sunday: Bechdel's mom, Theroux's Africa and Mantel's Cromwell

Our book critic David L. Ulin can't say enough about Alison Bechdel’s 2006 family memoir “Fun House.” In his review of Bechdel’s latest foray into graphic novel memoir, “Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama," Ulin says that anyone who hasn’t read “Fun House” should “drop everything and get a copy right away.”  “Fun House” is on his short list along with “Maus,” “Persepolis,” “American Splendor” and "very few others of the greatest works of graphic literature.” “Fun House” dealt with the writer’s father and his untimely death: In her latest memoir, Bechdel turns her attention to her mother. But dealing with mom, Ulin writes, is a bit trickier. The reasons why make for a compelling read in this week's Sunday Arts & Books coverage.

After her wildly successful “Wolf Hall,” which was awarded the 2009 Man Booker Prize, Hilary Mantel is back with "Bring Up the Bodies," another novel about the Tudor dynasty in England and the diabolical Thomas Cromwell. “The good news,” writes our reviewer Martin Rubin, “is that it is more than the equal of its predecessor when it comes to intensity and drama.” Also, this week our YA review “Gilt” by Katherine Longshore has a distinct Henry VIII feel. Susan Carpenter says the book “reads like a more literary version of ‘Gossip Girl' overlaid onto 16th century England.”

Craig Claiborne’s name is largely forgotten in the world of food and, according to our Food Editor Russ Parsons, that’s a shame. While most people would recognize the names of his influential contemporaries James Beard and Julia Child, Clairborne, the longtime food editor and restaurant critic of the New York Times, has largely faded into obscurity. But Parsons notes “if any one person can be said to have created the modern American food world, it is he.” He reviews a new biography of Claiborne, “The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat” by Thomas McNamee.

Paul Theroux is widely traveled and deeply thoughtful about the intersection of the First World and the developing world in his novels and travel books. So it isn’t surprising that he would  journey back to Africa for his latest novel “The Lower River.” The book concerns Ellis Hock, a Massachusetts-based man of a certain age. His wife has just discovered warm, intimate messages written to other women on Hock’s phone, which brings an end to their 30-year marriage. So Hock chucks it all and disappears, not telling his family where he’s going. His destination is Africa, specifically Malawi, which is where he lived and worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s. That’s the set-up, but our Carolyn Kellogg writes that the book about escapist fantasies is less than it might seem.

More after the jump.

A natural history that almost wasn't: 'America's Other Audubon'

As a little girl in Ohio in the mid-1800s, Genevieve "Gennie" Jones would accompany her country doctor father in his buggy as he visited patients. Along the way they'd discuss the natural world, which turned into a lifelong passion. Then in 1876, consumed with heartache from a broken engagement, Jones traveled to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Here she viewed John James Audubon's masterpiece, "Birds of America."

Inspired by the beautiful watercolor drawings, she returned home with a new sense of purpose, determined to create a companion book illustrating birds' nests and eggs. Encouraged and financed by her father, Jones set about creating the artwork. Her brother, Howard, collected the specimens, wrote the field notes. With help from her friend Eliza Shulze, they practiced sketching the eggs and nests and learning the lithography process through correspondence.

After completing just five illustrations, Jones was stricken with typhoid fever and died. Overcome with grief, the family decided to continue working on the project as a memorial to their beloved. Seven years later in 1886, "Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio" was published.

Of the 90 completed, only 26 intact copies have been located. One (valued at $80,000) on display in a plexiglass case at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History caught the attention of the new assistant librarian, Joy Kiser, who would walk by it every day. Captivated by the story of the Joneses and their unbridled devotion to completing Genevieve's endeavor, Kiser, now a writer and editor for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, spent the next 15 years meticulously researching materials, tracking down relatives and telling their story at seminars.

She chronicles the tragic yet triumphant story behind the making of the Joneses' extraordinary 19th century book in "America's Other Audubon" (Princeton Architectural Press: $45).

"Despite praises and positive reviews from naturalists and ornithologists, Jones' book was never given the proper reception," said Kiser, who felt a strong connection through a shared appreciation of nests and eggs when she was a child. "Finishing the book was a way to keep her alive."

It was a laborious undertaking by the Joneses. Although Shulze left to study art in New York, she trained Jones' mother, Virginia, how to draw on the lithographic stones; nearly 90 copies of every illustration had to be hand colored, so they hired local girls to help.

The life-size color and black and white illustrations were drawn and colored by hand with imported Winsor and Newton watercolors and printed on the same Whatman's Hotpressed Antiquarian paper that Audubon used. The intricate details of the nests' construction are accentuated with the occasional burst of baby blue eggs.

PHOTOS: Images from "America's Other Audubon"

Jones' father, Nelson, depleted his retirement savings and sold subscriptions to museums, naturalists and even President Rutherford B. Hayes and Harvard student Theodore Roosevelt. During production, Howard and Virginia contracted typhoid, leaving Howard with heart damage and Virginia nearly blind for two years.

"America's Other Audubon" features original field notes and reproductions of the 68 original lithograph plates representing 129 species. Actually, 130 were intended, but, alas, the nest and eggs of the Cerulean Warbler could not be found.

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-- Liesl Bradner

Images: (Top) "Nest & Eggs of the Field Sparrow," Illustrated by Virginia Jones. (Bottom) The book's cover art . Credit: "Americas Other Audubon," by Joy M. Kiser. Published by Princeton Architectural Press, 2012.

Cycle with the stars in Steven Rea's 'Hollywood Rides a Bike'

It would be hard to imagine the Oscar-winning film "E.T." without Henry Thomas and his hooded extraterrestrial's bike-riding silhouette against the moon or Paul Newman's classic two-wheeled courtship of Katharine Ross missing from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Hollywood's friendly affair with bicycles can be traced back nearly a century. It could be an integral part of the main story line, such as in "Breaking Away," or used as a pivotal prop in memorable scenes (the "Do-Re-Mi" sequence in "The Sound of Music") or just objects of pleasure and recreation on studio lots.

Film critic and bike fanatic Steven Rea has pulled together a collection of seldom-seen photos of actors and their bikes in "Hollywood Rides a Bike" (Angel City Press, $20), which is a part of the coverage featured in this Sunday's Arts & Books section.

"It's a convergence of two of my biggest passions in life: movies and bikes," said Rea, who rides his early 1970s, Raleigh DL-1, British postman's bike nearly every day to work at the Philadelphia Inquirer and to screenings.

Long before "eco-friendly" became part of our vernacular, studios stocked their lots with fleets of bikes for stars to zip quickly from stage to dressing room. Drawn from Rea's 2010 Tumblr blog "Rides a Bike," the 125 selected images in this book are a mix of candid back-lot shots, actors at their leisure, posed studio portraits and production stills such as B-movie actress Louise Allbritton's cheesecake shot of her tumble in the 1944 comedy "San Diego I Love You." Other notable crashes featured are Doris Day in "The Tunnel of Love" and Jane Fonda in her first film, "Tall Story."

Images span from the onset of talkies (Fred Allen in 1929's "The Installment Collector") to late 1980s (Tom Hanks on a Silver BMX in "Big"), with the majority of images taken during Hollywood's golden age.

More after the jump

Sunday: Pico Iyer's long sentences and Stephen Hawking's birthday

Call it the value of complexity in a frantic time. That’s the thought that came to mind when I first read Pico Iyer’s engaging essay on why he’s made the conscious decision to write longer sentences. What Iyer, whose latest book, “The Man Within My Head,” was published this month, is saying to us (and for us) is that the world of instant communication is far too distracting and that there is gratification -- and a relief from the mundane -- in reading something complex and engaging. It is an interesting proposition by one of our favorite writers. His essay begins on the front page of Sunday’s Arts & Books section. (For more on this topic, I would recommend David Ulin's book "The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time," which was developed from Ulin's article in the Aug. 9, 2009, issue of The Times.)

Sunday is also Stephen Hawking's 70^th birthday and, to mark the occasion, Sara Lippincott is reviewing Kitty Ferguson’s latest book on the eminent physicist: “Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind.” As Lippincott notes, 70 is a real milestone for the superstar of the cosmos who has lived almost 50 years with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease). Also, Carolyn Kellogg reviews “Power Concedes Nothing: One Woman’s Quest for Social Justice in America, from the Kill Zones to the Courtroom,” the memoir of Connie Rice, the civil rights advocate and agitator who has made it her business to balance the scales of justice in Los Angeles.

On the fiction card, book critic David L. Ulin assesses playwright and television writer Alan Bennett’s latest work, a collection of  stories called “Smut.” And Susan Carpenter looks at “A Million Suns,” the second installment in the “Across the Universe” young adult fantasy trilogy by Beth Revis. Universe? Hawking? A birthday present?

And, of course, we have our weekly look at the bestsellers.

Thanks for reading.

-- Jon Thurber, book editor

Photo: Stephen Hawking at the 2010 World Science Festival opening night gala in New York. Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

 

In Sunday books: On Patti Smith, Tolstoy and life in the marginalia

What's in a book? Ideas and language, of course, and, remarkably, Lynell George has been able to trace her mother's life in the marginalia she left in many of her books. As George notes in her essay, "A Life in the Marginalia," that starts on the cover of this Sunday's Arts & Books section, to open her mother's books was "to reveal all manner of ephemera -- from transit passes to cards to notes in her mother's elegant English teacher cursive -- and all marking chapters in a rich, full life. And, in a way, a gentle guidance." Just as her mother's books and love of reading were a gift to her, George's memoir reminds us of the gift of books in enhancing the fabric of a home.  

Also Sunday,  David Ulin checks in on Patti Smith's "Woolgathering," a collection of prose poems that Ulin says speaks volumes about the broad diversity that makes up the life of Smith as a rocker, mother, poet, artist.

You can also listen here to an excerpt of Smith reading from her award-winning memoir "Just Kids," which has just been released as an audio book: Pattismithexcerpt

Daniel Handler, known more familiarly to some as Lemony Snicket, is back with his YA-debut "Why We Broke Up," which Susan Carpenter describes as "a brief but intense teen relationship gone wrong." Carpenter says that few of these "tragic trajectories have been written about as poignantly" as in this book, which is illustrated by Maira Kalman.

Then there's Tolstoy. Yes, the life of the count is detailed in Rosamund Bartlett's "Tolstoy: A Russian Life." Reviewer Martin Rubin notes that Tolstoy was "a loner, a quintessential outsider and a generally awful and quarrelsome individual." So how was he able to "understand and evoke the glittering social whirl and intricacies of fashionable salons" that made up much of his fiction?

Shari Roan reviews Mary Johnson's "An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service and an Authentic Life," a memoir that will "fascinate not only Catholics but anyone who has wondered about the human capacity to vow lifelong celibacy, poverty and charity" and gives us a fascinating portrait of Mother Teresa. Online at The Siren's Call, Nick Owchar talks to novelist Richard Zimler about his recent visit to Poland to discuss the novel "The Warsaw Anagrams" with Polish audiences.

And, of course, we have our Best-Sellers lists of what's hot at Southern California stores.

Again, thanks for reading (and for listening).

-- Jon Thurber, book editor 

Photo: One of several books that were part of writer Lynell George's mother's collection. George's mother imprinted the book with a hand and footprint of her daughter when she was a baby. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

 

The gift of Gaga

Amid the torrent of images of her alter ego in elaborate makeup and futuristic fashions, the stripped-bare face of Stefani Joanne Angelina seems startling.

The Grammy award -winning singer has teamed up with outré photographer Terry Richardson for a book of photographs, “Lady Gaga X Terry Richardson” “(Grand Central Publishing, $50), a showcase of more than 350 color and black-and-white photos taken on a nearly yearlong global odyssey.

Richardson, known for his risqué, clothing-optional style, captured all sides of the chameleon-like pop star, commencing with the 2010 Lollapalooza festival, continuing to her unforgettable egg-encased arrival at the 2011 Grammys and on through to the final show of her Monster Ball tour.

It’s a not-for-kids picture book with a sententious foreword by Gaga. The rest is pure, unadulterated visual dialogue. Fans won’t be disappointed with extreme behind-the-scenes and concert shots of the expected snarls and outlandish get-ups. Included are images of Gaga’s it's-what's-for-dinner meat  dress and her poses with Cher, the godmother of attention-grabbing, barely-there Vegas showgirl couture. But most revealing are the black-and-white images with no fuss, no props or theatrical makeup in the way. It’s when the singer takes a moment from the madness, pulls back her hair and ditches the costumes, that we see the real girl who is the mastermind behind the monster.

View a gallery of photos from Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson

Images: From the book LADY GAGA x TERRY RICHARDSON. Working. Photo by Terry Richardson/Grand Central Publishing.

- Liesl Bradner

A whirlwind year for 'Unbroken's' Louis Zamperini

At 94, Louis Zamperini, the resilient hero of Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken," just keeps on going. Would you expect anything less from the Olympic runner who survived 47 days adrift on a raft in the Pacific Ocean and then spent two years in Japanese POW camps?

This month "Unbroken" marks a year on the L.A. Times bestsellers list. Since the book's publication,  Zamperini has become one of the hardest-working men in the books biz, making nearly 50 appearances at World War II veteran events, Olympian luncheons, Italian halls,  USC functions and churches across the country. He continues to inspire audiences with his unbelievable story of perseverance, faith and forgiveness. His travels have taken him to Washington, Boston, the Billy Graham Center in North Carolina. He's been invited to appear on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" in December.

Hillenbrand, who suffers from a debilitating case of chronic fatigue syndrome, was unable to go on a traditional book tour, so Zamperini stepped up, taking the reins in promoting "Unbroken."  Just a few weeks ago, he finally met Hillenbrand in person at his home in Los Angeles. Previously, she had only spoken to him on the phone for the bulk of her research.

"He's devoted the rest of his life to getting the most people to read Laura's book," said John Naber, who accompanies Zamperini to his appearances. A fellow Olympian (five medals in swimming at the 1976 Montreal Olympics), Naber met Zamperini in 1983 but didn't hear about his WWII exploits until 13 years later. Read more about their special bond in Thursday's Sports section.

Zamperini, ahe Torrance native and USC alum, lives quietly in the Hollywood Hills, where he was once a neighbor of Aldous Huxley. A photo discovered in our archives shows Zamperini and his wife, Cynthia (she died in 2001), standing among the charred remains of Huxley's home, which burned (along with many of his manuscripts) in a brush fire in 1961.

Several film versions of Zamperini's life have been in discussion over the years. The first was based on his 1950s autobiography, "Devil at My Heels," with talks of Tony Curtis as the lead. In 1998, Nicholas Cage expressed interest after watching a CBS segment on Zamperini during the Nagano Olympics. The most recent rumors have Ryan Gosling starring as Zamperini in the "Unbroken" adaption. Now that Zamperini and his son are involved, hopefully he'll finally get to see his story told on the big screen.

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- Liesl Bradner

Upper photo: Louis Zamperini, "Unbroken," author Laura Hillenbrand and John Naber. Credit: Louis Zamperini.

Lower photo: The ruins of Aldous Huxley's home are surveyed Zamperini and his wife, Cynthia, after a May 13, 1961, fire. Credit: Los Angeles Times

'Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs' reveals intimate family moments

Before Linda McCartney ever laid eyes on her husband-to-be at the launch party for the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1967, she was already a reputable rock 'n' roll photographer capturing candid behind-the-scenes images of late '60s artists such as the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and Janis Joplin.

Now, 13 years after her death, Paul McCartney and their children, along with editor Alison Castle, have selected more than 300 photos from her archive of 200,000 images to produce "Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs."

Read the full story in Tuesday's Calendar section.

The 288-page tome also takes an intimate peek at life with the McCartneys, playing and relaxing at their homes in Scotland, London and Arizona.

See a photo gallery from 'Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs'

She stopped taking pictures professionally in the 1970s when she had her family. "We became her subjects," said daughter Mary, who is also a photographer. "We took it for granted a camera always being in our face."

Those personal, tender images reflect happy, normal family moments: Paul and son James laughing in a tub immersed in bubbles, for example, or Paul in his bathrobe with the kids on their farm in Scotland.

-- Liesl Bradner

Images: Right: Linda, Paul and Mary, London 1969. Below: The Beatles and Yoko Ono, London 1969. Credit: Linda McCartney